Coyne American Institute A Cut for the Middleman Livestock and Food ?Discussion

“A Cut for the Middleman: Livestock and Food” (pp. 706), and then answer the following questions (~400 words or more):

1. How is energy lost as it transfers to higher trophic levels?

2. What effect does the agricultural industry have on climate change?

3. Are all foods created equal? Why or why not?

4. What are the current concerns with the rate of global meat consumption?

5. Should Brazilian farmers be allowed to clear rainforests in order to increase crop space for livestock?

6. Do you think sustainable agricultural practices such as those underway in Demark should be required internationally?

Student El

1.How is energy lost as it transfers to higher trophic levels? The reason why the energy is lost when it transfers over to higher trophic levels is because the amount of the energy transfers to the different trophic levels starts to lower down as it goes through it. So about as little as ten percent of the energy is going to the trophic levels.

2.What effect does the agricultural industry have on climate change? The effects of the agricultural industry have on the climate change is that since the agriculture has a big impact on the climate change. For every level, there is a food industry that releases the greenhouse gases into the air, thus making climate change. Also farming is the main problem since it releases large amounts of the two most powerful greenhouse gases which are, nitrous oxide and methane.

3. Are all foods created equal? Why or why not? No not all foods are created equal because there are certain foods that have more nutrients then others or that could possibly have some health effects that are beyond having too much nutrition. There is a thing called superfood which is by having high amounts of vitamins and minerals, and other nutrients in that superfood, which is very good for the body since it lowers the risk of getting health problems.

4. What are the current concerns with the rate of global meat consumption? The current concerns with the rate of the global meat consumption are that with the high rate of the meat consumption is that it can have a negative effect on humans health. Which can lead to having a higher risk of possibly heart diseases, or colorectal cancer.

5. Should Brazilian farmers be allowed to clear rainforests in order to increase crop space for livestock? No, I don’t think that the Brazilians farmers should be allowed to clear the rainforests in order to increase crops space for livestock.

6. Do you think sustainable agricultural practices such as those underway in Denmark should be required internationally? I think that the sustainable agricultural practices as the ones in Denmark should be practiced internationally. It has already been practiced by the people that actually work in the sustainable agriculture and the sustainable food. When this happened it actually helped growers find other uses to make healthy soil, to use less water, and to also lower the pollution on the farms. It also helps the farm workers health and well being, is environment friendly, and it could also help out with the economy.

Student Gab

1. Energy gets lost as it transfers to higher tropic levels by it getting lost to the organism. It gets lost through heat, feces, and respiration as well. So only 10% of energy ends up actually being transferred while 90% gets lost.

2. Agriculture has several effects on climate change, however, one of the biggest effects would have to be gases that are released into the atmosphere. Food goes through a long extended process before we get it. This includes the food being processed, packaged, and prepared. Greenhouse gases are the process where unfortunately many chemicals are released into our environment.

3. After not only reading “A Cut for the Middleman: Livestock and Food” and doing some research of my own, I have to say that no, not all foods are created equal. I believe that this has a lot to do with the competitive food market nowadays. There are processed foods and natural organic foods. For example, fruits and veggies can be natural when grown on a farm or even in one’s back yard. Unlike when they are processed with cheaper ingredients to be made to look and taste like a natural, fresh veggie or fruit.

4. There are current concerns that meat consumption will end up hurting our environment greatly. This concern is that high levels of meat consumption has a negative impact on health. Meat increases the chances of deadly diseases such as cancer, and these levels of meat consumption just keep going up. Higher meat production also causes higher carbon emissions and higher carbon missions means to much carbon in the atmosphere which than leads to climate change. The meat consumption keeps growing due to it being more affordable for low-income houses, not only is it affordable but it also provides a good source of nutrient.

5. I am really undecided between this next question because both sides have their valid points. I would say yes because I am sure the farmer needs to make a living like anyone else. However, I would say no because this is the problem of climate change and deforestation should be stopped. If I really had to choose I would say no, some farmers are already getting from groups trying to preserve the forest therefore money can be made without having to cut the trees.

6. I do think that sustainable agriculture should be required internationally. This method is in order to improve our world and should at least be tried out in other places.